Single pedestal transit chair

ABSTRACT

A transit chair has a beam supporting two seats and has a side rail for attachment to the side of a vehicle, the beam being supported about midway by a single pedestal which is carried on a hollow foot extending longitudinally of the vehicle floor, the foot being provided at its ends with bolt openings for receiving bolts anchoring the foot to the floor and the foot being cut away along an angle above the openings to provide vertical access for a socket wrench, the ends of the foot being releasably closed by a closure cap having releasable wing lugs interlocked with side openings in the foot.

United States Patent 1 Barecki 14 1 Apr, 24,1973 1 SENGLE PEDESTALTRANSIT CHAIR [75] inventor: Chester J. Barecki, Grand Rapids,

Mich.

[73] Assignee: American Seating Company, Grand Rapids, Mich.

[22] Filed: June 4, 1971 [21] Appl. No.: 149,947

[52} US. Cl. ..297/232, 297/445, 248/188.8 [51 Int. Cl ..A47c 3/00 [58]Field of Search ..297/248, 232, 445;

[56] References Cited UNlTED STATES PATENTS 2,630,158 3/1953 Davis..297/445 X 2,006,502 7/1935 Hallowell 0248/1888 X 2,947,554 8/1960 Kochv.211/182 X 2,991,888 7/1961 Shivek... 211/182 X 3,194,362 7/1965 Wargo.1 ..52/127 X 3,556,569 1/1971 Bruhn "287/56 X 3,347,509 10/1967 Holz..248/188.7 3,567,278 3/1971 Barecki ..297/457 X 2,992,803 7/1961 Good...248/188 7 3,236,484 2/1966 Hozeski ..248/188 Primary ExaminerFrancisK. Zugel Atlorney-Dawson, Tilton, Fallon & Lun'gmus [5 7] ABSTRACT Atransit chair has a beam supporting two seats and has a side rail forattachment to the side of a vehicle, the beam being supported aboutmidway by a single pedestal which is carried on a hollow foot extendinglongitudinally of the vehicle floor, the foot being provided at its endswith bolt openings for receiving bolts anchoring the foot to the floorand the foot being cut away along an angle above the openings to providevertical access for a socket wrench, the ends of the foot beingreleasably closed by a closure cap having releasable wing lugsinterlocked with side openings in the foot.

6 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures Patented A ril 24, 1973 3,729,226

2| 2| 2 i I a 2 i i 5 i I i INVENTOR i Chester J. Boreckl I t 2o BY@momm 70%"? 2o 6 W EWATTORNEYS SINGLE PEDESTAL TRANSIT CHAIR BACKGROUNDAND SUMMARY In buses, planes, and other vehicles, there is a need forsturdy support means for chairs, while at the same time providingmaximum clearance between the chairs and the vehicle floor which permitsquick and easy floor cleaning, leg room, and storage space. I havediscovered that the above can be accomplished by supporting a pair ofseats upon a cross beam which can be secured on one side to a side wallof the vehicle and supporting the beam about midway with a singlepedestal having an elongated hollow foot extending in a directionlongitudinally of the vehicle floor, while also providing a footstructure which can be firmly locked to the floor through exposed endsof the hollow foot while providing closures which can be removed fromtime to time when the fastening means must be retightened. An elongatedhollow foot has its bottom ends provided with openings for receivingbolts, the ends of the foot being cut away at an angle to providevertical access for a socket wrench, releasable closure caps beingprovided for the ends of the foot.

DRAWING In the accompanying drawing,

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the front side of a transit chairproviding two-passenger seats;

FIG. 2, a rear perspective view of the chair shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3, a broken perspective view on an enlarged scale ofthe foot of thepedestal;

FIG. 4, an exploded perspective view of the foot structure shown in FIG.3 but with the end caps removed to expose the attachment means and toprovide vertical clearance for a socket wrench;

FIG. 5, a broken sectional view, the section being taken as indicated atline 55 of FIG. 3, the end cap being partially pressed into the hollowfoot; and I FIG. 6, a view similar to FIG. 5 but showing the end vclosure cap locked in place.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION In general, I have provided a two-seat chairstructure carried by a beam, the beam being supported about midway by asingle pedestal having at its bottom an elongated hollow foot, the footextending longitudinally or lengthwise of the vehicle so as to preventany swaying of the chair during the starting and stopping of the coach.The elongated foot has its end portions cut away to provide verticalaccess to bolts passing through the bottom ends so that the foot can befirmly anchored to the vehicle floor and later retightened should thebolts work loose. Closure cap means are provided for closing the endopenings with wing lugs which snap into holes in the sides of the footso that the caps can be removed for such tightening operations at latertimes.

Referring to the drawing, the transit chair 10 comprises two separateseat structures 11 and 12 mounted on a beam 13. The beam may be attachedto the wall of the coach or vehicle by use of a short length of angleiron 14. The beam is supported by a single column pedestal 15 locatedabout midway between the seats to afford maximum leg room withoutdepriving the chair of the needed support.

The pedestal I5 is attached to the floor by the use of the elongatedtube or foot 16 which extends in a direction longitudinally of the coachfloor and includes a flat bottom plate 16a resting on the vehicle floorand secured to it. In the illustration given, the foot is substantiallysquare in cross section and has its ends 17 cut away at an anglepreferably about 45 to permit the use of a socket wrench 18 to tightenthe attachment nuts or bolts 19 which are received in bolt holes at eachend of the bottom plate 16a. Hence, the fastening bolts are located infore and aft positions relative to the single vertical column 15, andthey extend at least partially within the hollow foot member 16.

End caps 20 are locked in place automatically by having two shoulderrivets or lugs 21 snap into receiving holes 22 as the two spring fingersor wings 23 of the end cap are pressed inside the foot tube and alongits bottom edge 24. When locked in place, the shoulder rivets or lugshold the end cap 20 firmly against the opening 17 at each end of thefoot 16. To remove the cap, the rivet lugs 21 should be pressed inwardlyto clear the openings 22 and the closure then withdrawn.

This structure prevents unauthorized removal. If desired, a special toolmay be employed for simultaneously pushing the shoulder rivets inwardlyon each side of the holes and thus facilitating the removal of the caps.

While in the foregoing specification I have shown structure inconsiderable detail for the purpose of illustrating phases of theinvention, it will be understood that such details may be varied widelyby those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of myinvention.

I claim:

1. A multiple-passenger transit vehicle chair comprising: a chair framewith an aisle side and a wall side, said frame supporting a plurality ofpassenger chairs side-by-side, mounting means on said wall side of saidframe for securing said frame to a vehicle wall; a single pedestalcooperating with said wall to support said frame, said pedestal beingspaced at an intermediate location between said wall side and said aisleside of said frame and including an upright column rigidly connected atits top to said frame; a hollow tubular foot member integral with thebottomof said column and extending forwardly and rearwardly therefrom,said foot having a generally flat bottom plate resting on the floor ofsaid vehicle and provided with a bolt hole adjacent each end thereof toreceive floor fastening bolts securing said foot to the vehicle floor atforward and rearward positions relative to said column, said tubularfoot member further defining forward and rear access apertures adjacenttheir associated bolt holes to permit access to said fastening boltswhen they are received in said bolt holes; said first and second closuremeans removably attached to said foot to cover said access apertures ofsaid foot member respectively and cooperating with said hollow footmember to enclose said fastening bolts when said closures are assembledto said foot while permitting unrestricted tool access to said fasteningbolts when said closures are removed.

2. The structure of claim 1 wherein said column of said pedestalislocated at the approximate longitudinal and transverse center of the'seat portion of said frame and wherein said mounting means comprisesflange means attached to said frame for securing the same to the vehiclewall.

3. The structure of claim 1 wherein said tubular foot member has arectilinear cross section with open forward and rear ends providing saidaccess apertures, said access apertures extending at an inclinationrelative to the horizontal from the bottom plate of said foot memberupwardly and toward said column member, thereby permitting vertical aswell as side tool access.

4. The structure of claim 1 wherein said frame comprises a cross beamextending longitudinally of said chair, and wherein said mounting meanscomprises a rail carried by said cross beam, said structure furthercomprising a pair of seats mounted upon said cross beam in side-by-siderelation.

5. The structure of claim 3 wherein said closure means comprise firstand second end plates covering respectively said front and rear inclinedaccess apertures of said hollow rectilinear foot member.

6; A two-passenger transit vehicle chair comprising: a chair frame withan aisle side and a wall side, first and second chairs carried by saidframe in side-by-side relation; mounting means securing the wall side ofsaid frame to an upright vehicle wall; a single pedestal supporting saidframe and including an upright column member connected to said frame atits approximate longitudinal midpoint and an integral hollow tubularfoot member extending fore and aft of said chair from the bottom of saidcolumn member, said wall mounting means and said pedestal being the onlysupport for said frame and said chair, said foot having a generallyrectilinear cross section and having forward and rear open ends definingforward and rear access apertures, each of said open ends being inclinedfrom the bottom of said foot upwardly and toward said column; first andsecond fastening bolts attaching said foot member to said floor of saidvehicle at locations adjacent respectively said forward and rear accessapertures, said bolts extending at least partially within said hollowfoot member; and first and second cover members releasably attached tosaid hollow foot member to cover respectively said forward and rearaccess apertures, said access apertures extending from the side of anassociated fastening bolt over and above the same to permit unrestrictedtool access to a fastening bolt when the associated cover is removed.

UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTIONPATENT NO. 3,729,226

DATED 1 April 24, 1973 INV ENTOR(S) Chester J. Barecki It is certifiedthat error appears in the above-identified patent and that said LettersPatent are hereby corrected as shown below:

Column 2 line 38 after "supporting" insert ---seating means foraccommodating--;

Column 2 line 3 change "passenger" to --passengers--- and delete"chairs";

Column 2, line 57 delete "said" and insert therefor -and--'.

Signed and Scaled this seventeenth D ay of February 1976 [SEAL] Arrest:

RUTH C. M A SON C. MARSHALL DANN, Atlestmg Officer Commissioneroj'Patents and Trademarks

1. A multiple-passenger transit vehicle chair comprising: a chair framewith an aisle side and a wall side, said frame supporting seating meansfor accomodating a plurality of passengers side-by-side, mounting meanson said wall side of said frame for securing said frame to a vehiclewall; a single pedestal cooperating with said wall to support saidframe, said pedestal being spaced at an intermediate location betweensaid wall side and said aisle side of said frame and including anupright column rigidly connected at its top to said frame; a hollowtubular foot member integral with the bottom of said column andextending forwardly and rearwardly therefrom, said foot having agenerally flat bottom plate resting on the floor of said vehicle andprovided with a bolt hole adjacent each end thereof to receive floorfastening bolts securing said foot to the vehicle floor at forward andrearward positions relative to said column, said tubular foot memberfurther defining forward and rear access apertures adjacent theirassociated bolt holes to permit access to said fastening bolts when theyare received in said bolt holes; said first and second closure meansremovably attached to said foot to cover said access apertures of saidfoot member respectively and cooperating with said hollow foot member toenclose said fastening bolts when said closures are assembled to saidfoot while permitting unrestricted tool access to said fastening boltswhen said closures are removed.
 2. The structure of claim 1 wherein saidcolumn of said pedestal is located at the approximate longitudinal andtransverse center of the seat portion of said frame and wherein saidmounting means comprises flange means attached to said frame forsecuring the same to the vehicle wall.
 3. The structure of claim 1wherein said tubular foot member has a rectilinear crosS section withopen forward and rear ends providing said access apertures, said accessapertures extending at an inclination relative to the horizontal fromthe bottom plate of said foot member upwardly and toward said columnmember, thereby permitting vertical as well as side tool access.
 4. Thestructure of claim 1 wherein said frame comprises a cross beam extendinglongitudinally of said chair, and wherein said mounting means comprisesa rail carried by said cross beam, said structure further comprising apair of seats mounted upon said cross beam in side-by-side relation. 5.The structure of claim 3 wherein said closure means comprise first andsecond end plates covering respectively said front and rear inclinedaccess apertures of said hollow rectilinear foot member.
 6. Atwo-passenger transit vehicle chair comprising: a chair frame with anaisle side and a wall side, first and second chairs carried by saidframe in side-by-side relation; mounting means securing the wall side ofsaid frame to an upright vehicle wall; a single pedestal supporting saidframe and including an upright column member connected to said frame atits approximate longitudinal midpoint and an integral hollow tubularfoot member extending fore and aft of said chair from the bottom of saidcolumn member, said wall mounting means and said pedestal being the onlysupport for said frame and said chair, said foot having a generallyrectilinear cross section and having forward and rear open ends definingforward and rear access apertures, each of said open ends being inclinedfrom the bottom of said foot upwardly and toward said column; first andsecond fastening bolts attaching said foot member to said floor of saidvehicle at locations adjacent respectively said forward and rear accessapertures, said bolts extending at least partially within said hollowfoot member; and first and second cover members releasably attached tosaid hollow foot member to cover respectively said forward and rearaccess apertures, said access apertures extending from the side of anassociated fastening bolt over and above the same to permit unrestrictedtool access to a fastening bolt when the associated cover is removed.